Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Raghav set down the bowl of dog food in front of Damayanti and ran up the stairs to his den. He didn't have much time left this morning. Amma wanted to arrive at the Deshmukh house for the kathā so that they would have the full benefit of the Satya-Nārāyaṇa pūjā, to atone for cancelling the pūjā after his wedding to Pallavi. Raghav wanted to arrive even earlier so that he could talk to Pallavi privately, and reassure her that he would never allow her to be branded a criminal for telling him about her first marriage just a few hours too late. He knew that Pallavi must be anxious after her talk yesterday with her lawyer, Subhadra. That was why it was so urgent for him to call Farhad right now.

"Well, Farhad? Who sent me the recording yesterday?" Raghav demanded, as soon as their phones connected.

"Anna, that message to your phone was sent with hidden identifiers, and our information technology staff haven't managed to trace it yet. They were able to trace the device that logged into the CCTV system. Anna, it's Kirti's laptop."

"Celli?" Raghav knew that his sister resented Pallavi for investigating the hit-and-run that had injured Mandar, and for bringing criminal charges against Kirti and her husband-to-be, Sunny. Kirti had tried to go on with her life as if that accident had never happened. But would Kirti take advantage of evidence that would incriminate Pallavi? Revenge and blackmail were odious to Kirti, who had always been ashamed of Raghav for his ruthless business dealings. Kirti, who had rejected Raghav's money and proudly supported Amma on her own - was his Celli capable of extorting money from her brother who only wanted to give her everything before she could ask for it?

Farhad was trembling, knowing that Raghav would punish anyone who spoke a word against his little sister, but he tried to keep his voice steady as Raghav listened. "I checked the CCTV footage from yesterday morning, Anna, and there was only one person within earshot of the landing when you said to me, 'Every record of the moment I found out that Pallavi was a widow must be destroyed; varanā anartha ho jāyegā.' That person was Kirti. I am sorry, Anna. There were no listening devices in the den, so this recording is certainly the result of Kirti overhearing what you said to me from the landing."

"So, Celli doesn't know what I meant by 'anartha,' why I wanted this evidence destroyed." Raghav tried to take comfort in the deduction that Farhad had made last night. If he hadn't said to Farhad that the evidence was against Pallavi, then Kirti didn't know either, and there was no imminent threat to Pallavi, right? Then Raghav realized, with a pang, "Farhad, you know, maybe Celli told Sunny. Maybe it's Sunny, not Kirti, who wants money from me. It could have been Sunny who copied the original footage from a backup drive and logged in to the CCTV system using Celli's laptop."

"Yes, Anna, that is possible." Farhad almost hoped that Sunny was the blackmailer, although he didn't want one more person to hold evidence against Raghav. Yā Allāh, please let Kirti love Raghav Anna the way Mandar's sisters love him.

Raghav had moved on to another thought. "Celli's laptop has the CCTV system software, but Celli only has basic CCTV user privileges to watch and listen and talk in real time. She doesn't have permission to access archived footage. How did Celli or Sunny find out the master password?"

"You know how, Anna," Farhad hesitated to explain the obvious. He had warned Raghav that it was a bad idea to use his Wi-Fi password for the CCTV system too, but Raghav hadn't bothered to listen because he found it convenient.

"Never mind that. Farhad, call right now and stop tracing the caller who sent me the recording. I can't have Celli's name linked to blackmail and extortion."

"Don't worry, Anna, I already stopped the trace, as soon as I saw the CCTV footage." Farhad had anticipated Raghav's concern for Kirti; this time, Raghav wouldn't expect him to wait for an order.

"Good work, Farhad. Tell me, how is Pallavi? Does she talk about me?"

"Bhābhī is comfortable, Anna, and yes, when I came home last night, she asked me if you were taking care of yourself. She went to the Deshmukh house already to help with preparations for the pūjā."

They ended the call, and Raghav immediately ran downstairs, gathered Damayanti in one arm and a bag of her essentials in the other, and hurried Jaya and Kirti out the door and into the car.

Outside the Deshmukh house, Mandar and Amruta stood together, waiting to greet the guests. "Dādā, tulā āṭhavataṃ kā, āpaṇa doghaṃ aseça nehamī karata asū?" Do you remember how we used to do this every time? Amruta asked.

"Ho, Amruta. Jevhāṃ tū lahāna hotīsa tevhāṃ tū ekā zāgī ubhī rahāta navhatīsa." Yes, Amruta. When you were little, you wouldn't stand still. "Tū rāṅgoḷīvara nāçūna Āīne kāḍhalele citra visakaṭūna ṭākāyacīsa, tyāmuḷe malā tuzhā hāta dharūna rahāyalā lāgata ase." You would run over the rāṅgoḷī and spoil Āī's artwork, so I had to hold your hand. "Tī pahā!" Look! Mandar pointed to the leafy designs of the rāṅgoḷī. "Āīne āza kamāla kelī āhe." Āī has outdone herself today. "Tuzhaṃ pāūla tyāvara paḍalaṃ nāhī tara naśība!" You won't step on it, I hope!

"Dādā, tulā māhīta āhe kī āzacī rāṅgoḷī mī kāḍhalī!" Dādā, you know that I drew the rāṅgoḷī today! "Vyāyāma karatānā tū ikaḍe baghata hotāsa - mī tulā pāhile!" You were looking this way while you worked out - I saw you! Amruta was laughing as she gave a few playful punches to Mandar. "Gele dona mahine mī Kākūkaḍūna śikateya." I've been learning from Kākū for a couple of months now.

A car pulled up right in front of them, and the driver stepped out; it was Raghav! Was he invited? Mandar wondered. Pallavi had told the family that she and Raghav were not together right now.

Raghav opened the back door of the car, and a frail, middle-aged lady stepped out. Mandar folded his hands to greet her with a smile. "Namaste, Aunty, my name is Mandar. Thank you for coming."

"Maiṃ Jaya hai, Raghav kā Amma," Jaya replied, forgetting to smile at Mandar. So, this fine young man was Raghav's competition! His manners were what she expected of Sharada jī's son. Pallavi would be comfortable with Mandar; how would she choose Raghav now?

Of course, Mandar remembered. Yesterday morning, Sulochana Kākū had badmouthed Jaya Rao, Raghav's mother, and yesterday evening, Bābā had spoken of inviting someone named Jaya jī because they couldn't be left out - meaning, our relatives through Pallavi's remarriage to Raghav.

"I want to listen to the kathā; I hope it hasn't begun already!" Jaya was saying.

"No, Aunty, please come right in," Amruta replied, and showed Jaya through the door, ignoring Raghav, who was silently exchanging glares with Mandar.

The other back door of the car opened, and Kirti stepped out, carrying Raghav's dog.

Mandar was shocked; he didn't know what to do. He stood motionless, staring at Kirti. The woman who left me to die in the road because she didn't want to be caught with Raghav - how does she dare to show up for a pūjā to celebrate my return? Kirti was the target of Raghav's obsession that started his feud with Pallavi, the model who became the face of Deshmukh Saree Emporium at Raghav's insistence, the girlfriend whom Raghav comforted while Pallavi cried - Raghav has brought Kirti here to flaunt their relationship in Pallavi's face, to turn the pūjā into a tamāśā. How dare he!

Raghav shot a smoldering look at Mandar, and walked around the car to put his arm around Kirti's shoulders. He held his head high and walked side-by-side with Kirti, who was holding Damayanti, until they stood facing Mandar. Raghav's expression was defiant, while Kirti tried uncomfortably to look Mandar in the eyes, and Damayanti stretched her neck to get closer to him.

Mandar had not wanted to make a scene at first, when he found himself face-to-face with Raghav, but this was too much. "You brought your girlfriend to your in-laws' pūjā? Are you really that shameless? You want to punish Pallavi because she moved out of your house; you left her nowhere to go, and Farhad had to take her in; and that wasn't enough, so you decided to humiliate her by embracing another woman in front of her family! This is not the time or the place to show how easily you move on!"

Raghav's expression changed from defiance to confusion ... and then to mirth. The laughter poured out, uncontrollably, because Raghav felt relief. He had expected Mandar to protest Kirti's presence due to the hit-and-run, but instead, Mandar was ridiculously in the wrong. Raghav reached out with his free hand and put his hand on Mandar's forearm, and Mandar shook him off.

"You know what you are?" Raghav gasped for breath as he retorted. "Sanakī Buḍḍhe kā Sanakī Junior hai tuma! You're a funny guy, Mandar Deshmukh! You thought Celli -" And Raghav could not finish because he started to laugh again.

Mandar, who was mentally preparing for a fist-fight, didn't know how to react, as Raghav seemed to be in no mood to throw the first punch. Kirti's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Raghav is my brother. He's my older brother. My name is Kirti Ajit Rao."

Raghav and Kirti are brother and sister! Mandar was blushing hotly, and blinking furiously, as he stammered, "Sorry - I am so sorry!" He remembered now that Farhad had told him that Raghav had a sister.

"Let me explain to you, Mandar Deshmukh," Raghav's eyes twinkled as he tried to adopt a menacing tone. "You said only one thing that was true. I am shameless. I can afford to do what I want, with whom I want, wherever and whenever I want. You can talk trash about me. I don't care. But Pallavi isn't like me. She cares what people think. So, I won't let anyone say that Pallavi's husband has a roving eye, or that I let her go without a place to stay. She's staying with Farhad, who is like my brother. Don't you ever say that Pallavi isn't enough for me. My wife is Pallavi, I don't need any girlfriend, and that is how it is going to stay for a lifetime. I am not going to move on from Pallavi, artham ainadā?"

Mandar nodded. Pallavi would tell Raghav her decision soon, and then they would deal with Raghav's reaction. For now, he had to be polite to his Āī-Bābā's guests.

"I shouldn't have come," Kirti said. "After what I did, you and your family shouldn't have to see my face again."

"No, please stay," Mandar made an effort. "You were invited. Isn't it a Satya-Nārāyaṇa tradition that you don't leave the pūjā without taking prasāda?"

"Thank you," Kirti said. "Mandar, I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but if you can forgive me, I would be grateful to you."

"All right," Mandar said. "Your brother did what you should have done, and I have my life back now. You don't have to feel bad for me."

Raghav looked at Mandar with amazement. Just yesterday, this man accused me of nearly killing Sanakī Buḍḍhā, and he dared to warn me as if I would harm my own Pallavi. And now, he says I'm the reason he won't hold a grudge against Kirti. He is Sanakī Junior, for sure, but his sanaka is rather likeable. We're enemies, of course, but only until I find out his weak point and pay the price for him to back off from Pallavi.

"Mandar, tell me," Raghav remembered his need of the moment. "I have to give Damayanti her insulin injection. Where can I do that?"

"Let's go inside," Mandar said, leading the way. "Did you feed Damayanti already today?"

"Yes," Raghav admitted.

"Then you should have given her the insulin right after she finished eating. You adopted Damayanti only yesterday, correct? Didn't anyone explain to you that insulin between meals is very dangerous?" Mandar felt indignant; how was a Rākṣasa like Raghav allowed to adopt any dog, let alone a diabetic dog?

"Jānatā hai maiṃ! Last night, right after I fed Damayanti, I gave her a shot of insulin. Amma made sure I did it correctly. But this morning, we were in a hurry for the pūjā, so I just fed Damayanti and brought the insulin here." Raghav was surprised to find himself answering to Mandar. But with his arm around Kirti, who was holding Damayanti, who was trying to get a lick of Mandar's arm, Raghav was allowing Mandar to assert the privileges of friendship.

"How long ago did she finish her meal?" was Mandar's next question.

"Half an hour ago, right, Celli?" Raghav checked, and Kirti nodded, thinking, at least, my overconfident Annayya didn't try to use a needle while driving!

Mandar had responded to quite a few diabetic emergencies as an ambulance driver. He explained to Raghav and Kirti, "Damayanti's blood sugar won't be as high now as it was right after her meal, because the insulin from last night is still working. But it's not late enough that you should skip a shot, because you want her insulin schedule to be regular, every twelve hours. Her meals and exercise also need to be consistent every day. Today, we'll have to make an exception and give Damayanti a snack, so that her blood sugar won't fall too low after this insulin injection. Amruta, can you peel and chop a raw carrot and bring it to me?"

They sat down on the floor, at a distance from the pūjā setup. Pallavi was watching and listening to them as she waited at the door to greet guests.

"Raghav, are you sure no one gave Damayanti any insulin since last night?" Mandar asked, and Raghav nodded. "If there's any doubt, never take the risk of giving too much insulin, because low blood sugar is life-threatening. Do you have the insulin, and a syringe and needle? Alcohol and cotton swabs?"

Raghav took the items out of the bag and set them down. He took Damayanti from Kirti, but she squirmed in his lap and looked at Mandar to rescue her.

"Let her crouch on the floor, Raghav." Mandar spoke softly for Damayanti. "When she gets accustomed to receiving injections from you, she'll sit still on her own, but this time, Kirti should restrain Damayanti - not yet - feed her the carrot first." Amruta had brought the snack, and Damayanti munched it happily.

"What is the prescribed amount of insulin, and where did you inject Damayanti last night?" Mandar asked, and Raghav showed him. "So, this time, you want the injection to be near a different hip or shoulder, where she isn't sore. Roll the bottle of insulin between your palms to mix it, Raghav. You don't want to shake it because that will generate bubbles. And when you're at home, keep the insulin refrigerated - that is best. Now, wet a cotton swab with the alcohol, and use it to sterilize the rubber stopper of the insulin bottle. Attach the needle to the syringe, and using your right hand to move the plunger..."

"Raghav is left-handed!" Pallavi's voice rang out.

"Sorry, my mistake," Mandar said, and stroked Damayanti's head while Raghav continued to follow his guidance. "Use your left hand, and fill the syringe with a volume of air that is equal to the volume of insulin that you'll use. You have to inject air into the insulin bottle to balance the pressure. Avoid repeatedly piercing the same place in the stopper. Good. Draw out more than the volume that you need, and tap the syringe gently to get the bubbles to the top, then push the air back into the bottle until you have the right volume of liquid only. That looks correct."

Mandar nodded to Kirti; it was time to restrain Damayanti. "Now, keep your finger off the plunger as you hold the syringe. With your right hand, pinch a fold of Damayanti's skin, and insert the needle into the centre of the fold, just under the skin. Push the plunger smoothly all the way in, then pull the needle straight out. Now, stroke Damayanti's back to reward her for sitting still. Does her skin feel wet where you did the injection?"

"No," Raghav said.

"Good - that means you injected under the skin." Mandar smiled, and then remembered that he didn't like Raghav.

Pallavi called out, seeing that they were finished, "Mandar, Amruta, can you wait here to greet guests while I talk to Raghav? Raghav, let's go up to the terrace."

Raghav followed Pallavi up the stairs. When they reached the terrace, she turned around to face him, with concern in her eyes and words not ready to be spoken aloud.

Raghav smiled at her to reassure her. "Don't worry, Sārī kā Dukāna. I would never accuse you of taking advantage of me. The misunderstanding was all in my imagination. Only you and I and Farhad know what was said between us that night at the house where we got married, and none of us will tell."

Hearing Raghav's words, Pallavi thought that he was talking about two nights ago, when he had been drunk and lashed out at her in front of Farhad, imagining that she would take away the house with his memories. Of course, if Raghav had allowed her to move into that house, she wouldn't have taken advantage of her residence there when their marriage ended. Raghav had to know that she wasn't greedy.

Raghav, on the other hand, didn't remember saying, "You can't trust me? Well, I can't trust you." He had been drunk, after all. And in Raghav's mind, his concern for the house had fallen far behind his desperation to protect Pallavi from the jeopardy and shame of being charged with bigamy just because he, Raghav, had misunderstood the signals that she was a widow. Raghav couldn't tell Pallavi about the blackmailer who had the CCTV footage - he had to tackle that problem without anyone finding out whatever Kirti had done. Raghav only hoped that Pallavi understood that he was on her side against that stupid law.

Unsure how to cushion the blow that she would have to deal to Raghav, Pallavi blurted out an idea to clear her conscience about taking advantage of him. "Raghav, I asked Subhadra for help to expunge Mandar's death certificate. I know I shouldn't use your money to pay her fees for that service."

Raghav chuckled, remembering how Pallavi had helped herself to his Rs. 5 lakh to pay for her Bābā's medical treatment. That time, Picci Ammāyi had tried to prove that she could be as unabashed as he was, but here she was again, forgetting his lessons and speaking from her pure heart. Mandar had helped with Damayanti a few minutes ago; why wouldn't Raghav contribute to Mandar's return to the registry of living souls? "It's not my money any more; I put it in your expense account, Pallavi. Whatever you want to do with Subhadra's services, go ahead and spend the money."

"Thank you, Raghav. I ... I made my decision." Pallavi saw the laughter leaving Raghav's eyes, and a sad, knowing expression taking its place. "Mandar asked me to resume our courtship, and eventually start our married life. I said yes."

He was not going to cry in front of her again! So what if Pallavi had refused his plea to come home, and had decided, after barely one day of freedom from him, that she was ready to commit to Mandar? Raghav Rao was used to rejection. Unlovable, impure, unworthy - that's what he was, destined to hurt everyone from whom he sought love. He hadn't protected his Tammi, Arjun. He couldn't make love to Pallavi - he was her nightmare. He couldn't even manage to give Damayanti her insulin injection on time because he was in a hurry to meet Pallavi. And for what? To hear the obvious, that Pallavi, who saw the good in everyone, even in him, found more good in Mandar.

"Let's take two or three days to get used to being apart, and then I'll ask Subhadra to petition for an annulment of our marriage," Pallavi was saying.

"You want to tell me that our marriage never really existed?" Raghav spoke without thinking how pointless it was to argue.

Pallavi could not ignore his words, nor could she acknowledge them. Honestly, she had felt married to Raghav, but what did she know about marriage, without any experience of intimacy? She couldn't wait a year to be eligible for divorce, and Mandar being living was a valid reason to annul her marriage to Raghav. Did that choice make her a liar?

Raghav saw Pallavi blushing, and he had a wicked thought. It was now or never; he would say it and let her slap him if she felt insulted! "Suppose you and Mandar get started on married life, and you don't like it. Maybe you'll wonder that you missed your chance with me. Well, my arms are always open for you, remember that."

Pallavi trembled and she looked in all directions, except at Raghav. He was between her and the stairs, and he wasn't going anywhere. She finally managed to answer, "Raghav, what you're proposing is indecent. Marriage isn't a game, to try one partner and then another. How can you think that I would do that sort of thing?"

"That's exactly why I have to say this. I know that you have ideals. You imagine that you wouldn't do certain things because they are just wrong. You forget that you're human, and changing your mind, putting your own needs first, won't make you a bad person. So, listen. I love you, Pallavi, not your perfect image. I love your compassion, your fierce fighting spirit, your appreciation of beauty, your work ethic, the way you move. Those are your qualities - the reasons that I love the person that is you. Your physical purity is just a consequence of your choices and habits, which I respect, but it never drew me closer to you. You are innocent on the inside, no matter how much ugliness you see around you. You're the treasure that I aspire to earn in my life. Nothing that you do with Mandar will ever cheapen you for me. Idi Raghav Rao vāgdānam."

Raghav turned around and walked down the stairs.